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YesAsia Editorial Description

The sixth and final film in the celebrated Once Upon a Time in China series sees the return of action superstar Jet Li in the role he assumed in the first three installments. This time, legendary Chinese kung fu hero Wong Fei Hung goes to the Old West of America, and the 1997 film paved the way for Li's career in Hollywood. Produced by series creator Tsui Hark, the period martial arts epic is directed by the great Sammo Hung who also choreographs the entertaining action scenes in the series finale. Once Upon a Time in China and America co-stars series regulars Rosamund Kwan and Xiong Xinxin, with Chan Kwok Pong, Richard Ng, and veteran actor-director Patrick Lung making crucial supporting appearances.

In early 20th century, Master Wong Fei Hung (Jet Li) teaches martial arts at his Po Chi Lam clinic in Guangzhou. One of his disciples Bucktooth So (Chan Kwok Pong) has established a branch in San Francisco to promote kung fu in the West. Together with 13th Aunt (Rosamund Kwan) and disciple Clubfoot Seven (Xiong Xinxin), Wong travels overseas to visit So, but an accident upon their arrival in America culminates in Wong falling down the canyon and losing his memory. Rescued by a Native American tribe, Wong is eventually reunited with his compatriots in a town ruled by a treacherous sheriff who has ties with ruthless Mexican bandits. There, the Master vows to help the oppressed Chinese laborers and punish the bad guys the only way he knows how...

Professional Review of "Once Upon a Time in China and America (Blu-ray) (Scanavo Full Slip Limited Edition) (Korea Version)"

Jet Li and Sammo Hung's first bona fide hit in years, Once Upon a Time in China & America proved handover audiences were still hungry for the further adventures of Wong Fei-hung. In this, the crassest movie ever made, Wong Fei-hung (Jet Li), Aunt 13 (Rosamund Kwan) and Clubfoot (the delightfully lopsided Xiong Xin-xin) materialize in America for the opening of Bucktooth So's Po Chi Lam Clinic, stateside version. It's the late 19th century, and yes, that means they're smack dab in the middle of the Wild West. Heaven help us.

The plot involves Wong Fei-hung getting amnesia and joining up with a Native American tribe who sensitively rename him "Yellow", and are delighted to see that he can kick the stuffing out of tribal enemies. Wong dons Native American garb, but the Native Americans are mostly played by white and Hispanic people pretending to be Native American, and when they get in fights suddenly they're Chinese stuntmen. It's a free-wheeling racial conversation with stereotypes, caricatures, fight-the-power moments, and bad impersonations all existing side-by-side. Wong Fei-hung and company run riot over American history, with Billy the Kid performing good deeds and getting elected mayor, the nation's first Chinatown being established in the middle of the desert, and Native American tribes attacking wagon trains one minute, and cashing checks at the local bank the next. Everything is fair game for mockery, and even the hallowed Quest for Chinese Identity is burlesqued, but Wong Fei-hung manages to keep more of his dignity in native garb than Jackie Chan would the following year in Who Am I?

Production was, by all accounts, total chaos. Shot in Texas, with up to three camera units filming at once, the conditions were grueling. Food was filled with the ever-present sand, it was freezing cold and the plot revolves around falling into a river not once, but multiple times. The strain barely shows, however, and so the series ends in pretty good condition after five sequels, reprising the original lion dance that kicked it all off seven years earlier. Dance finished, superstar Jet Li, actress Rosamund Kwan, and former stunt double Xiong Xin-xin pile into a carriage and ride off. Maybe the series will be mothballed again. Maybe they make it back to a destabilised China, maybe they get lost in the wilderness on the way. But they don't need to ride off into a sunset, because come what may, these heroes will never get old. As long as we need them, they'll be around.

A strange, playful installment to Jet Li's portrayal of Wong Fei Hong. A delightful encore of highlight fights from the previous movies all in an attempt to have Wong Fei Hong regain his memory, but nothing spectacular in the way of fight choreography considering all who's involved. The stereotyping falls into the amusing just short of eye-rolling disbelief just short of insulting.